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The Truth About 'The Occupation' and 'The Settlements'

American Thinker - Dom, 08/29/2010 - 01:02
The pro-Palestinian propaganda machine has succeeded in stigmatizing the Israeli occupation and the settlements. Here's the truth about the legalities.
Categorías: Web Log

Hard Endings: Rome, China and the Modern West

American Thinker - Dom, 08/29/2010 - 01:02
It's clear that Europe and North America -- the interlinked West -- are reaching an ending.
Categorías: Web Log

The Day In Israel: Sunday Aug 29th, 2010

IsraellyCool - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 22:21

According to Egyptian security sources as reported by the palestinians Ma’an News, Egypt intercepted a shipment of at least 190 anti-aircraft missiles in Sinai – probably destined for Gaza.

Egyptian police raided arms depots in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, which held weapons ready to be smuggled into Gaza, Egyptian security sources said.

Sources said three weapons depots were discovered in central Sinai. One cache containing 100 anti-aircraft shells was uncovered in Al-Hasana, and another, containing 90 of the shells, was discovered in Ad-Daqqaq. A third cache, holding 1,500 bullets of various sizes, was found in Nakhl.

Several weapons caches were discovered in cities bordering the southern Gaza Strip. Ten anti-tank landmines were found three kilometers from the border in Rafah, and two stores of machine guns and explosives were discovered in Sheikh Zwayyid.

Egyptian police also seized 50 kilograms of hashish in forests in Rafah, and detained several drug dealers in El-Arish, sources added.

Meanwhile, there are those in the media who would have us believe the only things being smuggled are “happy pills.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:22PM: The palestinians are calling the upcoming World Jewish Congress a “provocation” – because it is being held during Ramadan.

The Islamic-Christian Front for defending Jerusalem says the 14th World Jewish Congress, which is set to be held on Wednesday in Jerusalem, is a blatant provocation to the Arab and Islamic nation as a whole.

“Not only does the [Israeli] occupation not at all care about the feelings of Muslims in Palestine and the world, but now deliberately shows direct prejudice to the religious feelings of the Palestinians and Muslims in general, as evidenced by the conference deliberately held during the holy month of Ramadan,” said Dr. Hassan Khater, Secretary General of the Islamic-Christian Front.

“In these heavy days of black memories against Islamic holy sites, beginning with the forty first anniversary of the burning of Al-Aqsa, the sixteenth anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, the outrageous attack on the Ain Silwan mosque, and preventing worshippers from reaching Al-Aqsa, even in the month of Ramadan, comes the brutal Zionist decision,” he added.

The Secretary-General warned that the conference is not a regular conference for global Jewish leaders, but a dangerous meeting to develop a defense strategy for the Israeli state at home and overseas. Several papers on how to go into electronic warfare to defend the Israeli state and confront the wave of doubts over the legitimacy of its existence on the international level will be reviewed among other papers in the conference.

A meeting of Jewish leaders from all parts of the world in the heart of Jerusalem comes at a time when many Muslim leaders and scholars are unable to hold even one serious conference to protect the Holy City, Khater explained.

I wasn’t aware that Jews were obligated to keep Ramadan as well. Go figure.

Mind you, given that the Arabs started a war on our holiest day of Yom Kippur, I’d say we are not even close to being even.

Meanwhile, I have been invited to attend the World Jewish Congress, so will be sure to update you all on any new “brutal Zionist decisions” to come out of it.

8:08PM: A response to terror enabler Lauren Booth’s letter to Israel.

7:56PM: Predictably, the palestinians have picked up on the statement of Rav Ovadia Yosef, attempting to suggest it is indicative of the Israeli government’s views.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Sunday slammed remarks by the spiritual leader of Israel’s leading ultra-Orthodox party, who said the Palestinians should “perish”, saying that it was paramount to incitement to genocide.

Erekat called on the Israeli government to denounce the remarks by Israel’s former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and to take action against racist remarks by other elected officials. He also criticized Israel for allowing the incident to pass without condemnation.

Yosef had said during his weekly Shabbat sermon that the Palestinians, namely Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, should perish from the world. Yosef, a founder of the Shas Party, also described Palestinians as evil, bitter enemies of Israel.

“All these evil people should perish from this world … God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians,” Yosef had said.

The 89-year-old is a respected religious scholar but is also known for vitriolic comments about Arabs, secular Jews, liberals, women and gays, among others.

“Is this how the Israeli government prepares its public for a peace agreement?” Erekat said, days before Israeli and Palestinian leaders were scheduled to meet in Washington for the launch of renewed direct peace negotiations.

“While the PLO is ready to resume negotiations in seriousness and good faith, a member of the Israeli government is calling for our destruction,” Erekat said. “It is an insult to all our efforts to advance the negotiations process.”

Erekat called on Israel “do more about peace and stop spreading hatred” and said Yosef’s comments could be placed within the larger context of Israel’s “policy against a Palestinian state” such as settlement expansion, home demolitions, among other things.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday distanced himself from Yosef’s remarks, but stopped short of a condemnation. “Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s remarks do not reflect Netanyahu’s views, nor do they reflect the stance of the Israeli government,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

“Israel plans to take part in peace negotiations out of a desire to advance toward a peace agreement with the Palestinians that will end the conflict and ensure peace, security and good neighborly relations between the two peoples,” the statement continued.

Propaganda expert Erekat is once again showing his adeptness at turnspeak and exaggeration.

Erekat is employing turnspeak – defined as “a cognitive technique of propaganda where you attack someone and then turn it around 180 degrees and claim they attacked you” – since it is the palestinians who are constantly inciting hatred against Jews and Israel, and it is their leadership who are leading the effort. The palestinian leadership have also never negotiated in seriousness and good faith, and constantly called for our destruction. It is these very things that Erekat is now accusing Israel.

As for exaggeration, Ovadia Yosef’s comments – as offensive as they may be to many – were not tantamount to calls for genocide. He was not asking people to carry out his wishes, but rather expressing his desire that G-d should strike the palestinians.

3:00PM: This is the Jerusalem Post’s generic error page.

No joke.

Thanks to Shy Guy for the heads up.

1:35PM: Gilad Shalit has turned 24, his 5th birthday in captivity.

1:00PM: Cartoon of the day:

Hat tip: Daniel

11:30AM: Israeli model/entertainer Noa Tishby proves she’s not just a pretty face.

“We’ve been living with terrorism for years,” Noa Tishby says. “We know the mentality. We know what radical Islam is about. We understand it. But so many people don’t.”

It’s easy for young, beautiful actresses in a town of young, beautiful people to blend into a crowd—but Tishby stands out as a proud Israeli woman, speaking with a passionate intelligence about the country she loves.

“I’m coming at this from a different world, a different view—not from politics, but from a straightforward understanding about the way things are,” Tishby says.

Even as a young teenager in Israel, Tishby adored the process of creation. A star at a young age for her singing voice and her acting talent, Tishby was always interested in the production side of creating and telling stories, not just what happened on the stage.

“I still remember calling up the local press people and saying ‘hi, this is Noa, you don’t know me, but I want to talk to you about our show,’” she says. “It’s different in the entertainment industry here in the States, but in some ways, it’s still the same.”

Tishby has become a groundbreaking exporter, adapting successful entertainment from Israel to the U.S. market. Besides her acting roles on television and the bigscreen, she’s a co-executive producer of the first Israeli television show to become an American TV series: the award-winning drama In Treatment, starring Gabriel Byrne and populated with a host of superb character actors (it began as BeTipul in Israel). Her production company, Noa’s Arc, owns the rights to several shows in Israel and the United States, and is focused on projects that feed into that export spirit—including one of the first musicals she was in as a child, on the life of King David (a hit in Israel, it ran for twelve years).

Yet what sets Tishby apart is not just her unique career track, but her straightforward and outspoken views on international politics and the Middle East—views that she shares via her columns for The Huffington Post and on her blog.

In the current celebrity culture, Tishby knows this openness about her views can come as a surprise to people.

“I’m not an expert,” Tishby says, “I’m just saying what I think and what I know from experience, what I grew up with and hope others will understand.”

Tishby says that while many of her friends consider themselves knowledgeable about the world they live in – “they really are educated people,” she adds – but have little knowledge of the truth about Israel and the reality of life in the Middle East. She tells the story of another young woman in the industry who was surprised she didn’t have to wear a head-covering.

“There’s just a complete lack of knowledge there,” Tishby says. “Before I came to the states, I thought ‘of course the world knows how modern we are here, why wouldn’t they?’ I assumed it was obvious… Instead, I found a disappointing number of people think of it as all one big mush. Afghanistan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, as if it’s all the same… It’s a lack of understanding about how progressive Israel is, and how much human suffering and cruelty there is under the systems of nations whose views some people reflexively support.”

Tishby is a progressive, avowedly so—but her frustration with the media’s acceptance of spoon-fed storylines has led her to be more outspoken about her views.

“Again and again, we see this double standard. Davutoglu calls the flotilla their 9/11,” Tishby said. “But how many Kurds did the Turk kill in the last few years?”

On a recent trip to Gaza, Tishby was surprised to find that one group of friends who share her views had no knowledge of Gilad Shalit.

“He’s been rotting with Hamas for four years, he’s held in complete confinement, he’s kidnapped, not even a prisoner of war, with no visitors from the United Nations and no contact from the outside world,” said Tishby. “And yet people want to talk to me about the Geneva Conventions?”

Tishby’s frustrations regarding the coverage of the flotilla incident are still palpable—she thinks it exemplifies how Israel works and how the enemies of Israel are thinking and adapting to the new media environment.

“Not all the people on the flotilla knew how they were going to be used, but the leadership certainly did,” said Tishby. “Those images and videos were pushed online almost immediately, used to define the incident.”

She strongly believes there needs to be a more sophisticated response not just from Israel but among her supporters to push back against these storylines and keep people informed of the truth.

“Within Israel, I think people don’t see how skewed the view is outside. Israel is being looked at with a magnifying glass. When Israel responds, it’s very deliberate, but that also slows things down,” Tishby said. “We need to create a nexus of information. Distributing that information real-time, will take a great deal of work—I think something along those lines needs to exists, and needs to be something that’s accessible around the world, moving at the speed people need today.”

Tishby favors a two state solution, and feels the progress in Ramallah is real. She points to Vice President Joe Biden’s recent appearance on Charlie Rose, where he said the current conflict “would end tomorrow if Hamas agreed to form a government with the Palestinian Authority on the conditions the international community has set up.”

“He’s a centrist, and I think he understands this,” said Tishby. “And he couldn’t be more right. I wish more people understood what is obvious to Israelis—that the sponsorship of Hamas and Hezbollah is connected intrinsically with the sponsorship of Al Qaeda, the bombings in Bali, Madrid, London, Tel Aviv—they never make the connection.”

Others have urged Tishby to consider taking up her own political career, but she says that’s not in the offing—for now.

“Being in the entertainment industry, being an actress and producer, altering people’s views—not just on politics, or Israel—is something that moves me,” said Tishby. “I’m taking this road for now, and later on, who knows?”

Tishby does think that there are still ways to tell this story to the American people. She is working on projects that can tell this story in innovative ways, bringing the truth about her experience and the experiences of other Israelis into American lives not through the news headlines but through the storytelling of Hollywood.

Her aim is not necessarily to convince the viewer of Israel’s rightness—“ I do not support the Israeli government all the time, I think we should do whatever it takes to have a peace agreement , stop the settlements immediately and make tough decisions. Of course no nation is right about everything,” but she wants to cause many people to reexamine the way they think about Israel, to learn more and decide for themselves.

“Israel is on the front line of a global conflict, a war that pits a medieval approach to human rights, an authoritarian way of controlling how we live, against societies built on the freedom of men and women,” Tishby says. “My issue is not with people who decide to support or not support Israel—it’s with people who are aligning themselves with people who, if the political left really looked at what they are doing, stand for nothing in common with their aims. All I am trying to do is to get people to reexamine the reality of what’s happening, to reconsider their preconceptions, and to see the truth—it’s not always black and white.”

That is not to say that I agree with all of her views, but it is obvious to me that she has a better understanding of the conflict than most.

9:15AM: Tell us how you really feel, Rabbi.

Senior Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, in his weekly lecture on Saturday night, said that he hope Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and the people he represents would disappear. “May Abu Mazen and all those evil people be utterly destroyed. May G-d strike them, and the evil Palestinians, with a plague,” he said.

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Categorías: Web Log

The Ego Barrier

Lazer Beams - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 16:01
Knowing what to do about The Ego Barrier is an important preparation for Rosh Hashana; this week's emuna lesson is 65 minutes long.
Categorías: Web Log

Today’s Must Read

IsraellyCool - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 15:34

..is this powerful piece by Robert Fulford of The National Post:

The long history of anti-Semitism in Muslim lands

One of the 2002 Bali bombers, Amrozi bin Nurhasin, on trial in an Indonesian courtroom and headed toward execution, shouted out the message he wanted his crime to convey: “Jews: Remember Khaibar. The army of Muhammad is coming back to defeat you.”

This was his explanation of the murder of 202 people eight years ago. Of those who died, 88 were Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 British. None were Jews. So what was Amrozi, a Java-born Indonesian, raving about? It’s a question worth considering as we assess the recent arrests for terrorist conspiracy in Ottawa. Islamic terrorists can finds motives in ancient struggles the rest of the world long ago forgot.

Martin Gilbert, the author of some 80 books, including the official biography of Winston Churchill, explains Amrozi’s meaning at the start of his alarming chronicle, In Ishmael’s House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands, published this week.

Amrozi was remembering an event 1,375 years in the past, when Muhammad attacked Jewish farmers living in the oasis community of Khaibar, in what is now Saudi Arabia. More than 600 Jews were killed and the survivors lost all their property and had to pledge half of their future crops to Muhammad.

Today, few Jews know the word Khaibar. But among certain Muslims it has permanent resonance. Khaibar set a precedent, endorsed by the actions of the Prophet. After Khaibar, non-Muslims who were conquered had to give up their property and pay heavy permanent tribute to their Muslim overseers. That form of discrimination lasted for centuries. It was this incident and its aftermath that nourished Amrozi’s homicidal ambition.

Muslims love to recall that Jews once lived in peace among them. Of course, Jews were always second-class citizens, their rights sharply limited. Still, it was sometimes better than settling among Christians. Bernard Lewis, a major authority on Islam, says that Jewish lives under Islam were never as bad as in Christendom at its worst, or as good as in Christendom at its best.

In the 20th century, Arab hostility to Jews took an ugly turn. Some claim that the new state of Israel “caused” the trouble. But well before Israel’s creation in 1948, Arabs were identifying Jews as enemies.

In 1910, in the now-Iranian city of Shiraz, mobs robbed and destroyed 5,000 Jewish homes, with the encouragement of soldiers. In 1922, in Yemen, an old decree permitting the forcible conversion of Jewish orphans to Islam was reintroduced. The government searched towns and villages for children without fathers, so that they could be given Muslim instruction. The children were chained and imprisoned till they agreed to convert. In 1936 in Iraq, under Nazi influence, Jews were limited by quota in the public schools, Hebrew teaching was banned in Jewish schools and Jewish newspapers were shut down.

Anti-Semitism intensified when Israel was created, and grew still worse after Israel won the Six-Day War of 1967. By the 1970s, about 800,000 Jews, perhaps more, had been forcibly exiled from Arab countries, their property seized. According to the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC), they lost property now valued at well over $100-billion.

A majority of these exiles settled in Israel. In the 1950s, the UN recognized them as refugees and compensation was discussed. Later, the Arab states turned the UN against Israel and, by association, against Jewish refugees. In 1975, the General Assembly condemned Zionism as “racism and racial discrimination.” Various political leaders in the West (notably Irwin Cotler, the former justice minister of Canada) have continued to argue for compensation. But after the 1975 resolution, as Gilbert notes, that idea was unlikely to receive any UN support.

The number of Jews displaced by the Arabs in the 20th century roughly equals the number of Palestinians displaced by Israel. But the plight of the Palestinians has received several hundred times as much publicity. One reason is the constant propaganda from Muslim states and their admirers in the West. Another is that many Jews, unlike Palestinians, don’t want to be called refugees.

Gilbert quotes an Iraqi Jew, Eli Timan, living in London: “The difference is that we got on with our life, worked hard and progressed so that today there is not a single Jewish refugee from Arab lands.” Those who suggest that this model be copied elsewhere will of course be condemned as heartless bigots.

Update: Another great Fulford piece: Palestinian refugees frozen in time, addicted to pity

Categorías: Web Log

Who Owns 8/28?

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:04
Are we remembering the same dream?
Categorías: Web Log

Prime the Pump, or Fill the Tank?

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:04
As the electoral silly season heats up, it's always interesting to listen to Liberals/Progressives/Democrats argue with their Republican opponents about how to fix the limping economy.
Categorías: Web Log

The Pentagon's Budget Is Not Bloated

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:03
With America facing a $1.4-trillion deficit, ideological opponents of a strong defense -- liberals and libertarians alike -- have called on the Congress to severely reduce the defense budget.
Categorías: Web Log

Target of Boycott Rebuffs Shakedown Attempt

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:03
Facing down boycott threats from the Soros-funded left.
Categorías: Web Log

Engagement with Castro Has Clearly Failed -- Time to Try an Embargo

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:03
The U.S. elite's fetish for "engagement" with Fidel Castro began before he was even in "office."
Categorías: Web Log

Debt, Depression, Default. America is in Deep Trouble

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:03
Consumers are spending less. Small retailers are closing shop -- even cable television subscriptions are seeing a loss in revenue.
Categorías: Web Log

The Crisis President Finds No Issues with Social Security

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:03
President Obama, if nothing else, is a prolific discoverer of crises. But he is adamant that the word does not apply to Social Security.
Categorías: Web Log

The Left's Unlikely Alliance with Islam

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:02
A pattern of political and moral support for Islam.
Categorías: Web Log

The Military Gets a Dose of 'Hope and Change'

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:01
In President Obama's push to legislate acceptance of homosexuals and bisexuals in the military, much more is at stake than unit cohesion and troop levels.
Categorías: Web Log

You're Right, I'm Wrong, Washington Is Venal

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:01
I wrote here that people in Congress and the White House were magical thinkers. Readers commented that I was wrong. Washington is just plain venal.
Categorías: Web Log

'Free' Speech in the U.K.

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:00
Freedom wanes in the mother of democracies.
Categorías: Web Log

It's Not Just about Getting Something

American Thinker - Sáb, 08/28/2010 - 01:00
Shopping can be more than the acquisition of goods.
Categorías: Web Log

When Scum Calls You Scum, I Guess It’s a Compliment

IsraellyCool - Vie, 08/27/2010 - 04:27

Finish Amnesty International head, Frank Johansson, who referred to Israel as a “scum state” in a blog post -  then defiantly stood behind it before surreptitiously removing it – has explained why he took it down.

"When I said you're scum, I did not mean it in a bad way. Some of my best friends are scum."

In an e-mail to the Post on Wednesday, Johansson wrote, “I decided to take down my blog because I appreciate that my comments were ill-judged and appear all the more so when taken out of context, and have obviously caused offence to many people although it was not my intention, at all, to cause such offence.”

He added “I am especially conscious, and regret that my ill-judged action may be detrimental to Amnesty International’s work on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the valiant human rights work being undertaken by my colleagues working for Amnesty International in Israel.”

Amnesty spokeswoman Susanna Flood said, “Johansson remains as the director of Amnesty International in Finland.

“Obviously, we regret it if such a term was used by an individual whose personal views could be misunderstood as reflecting those of Amnesty International, and we disassociate Amnesty International fully and clearly from such comments and we are making this clear to Mr Johansson,” Flood told the Post. “Amnesty International has never described Israel as a ‘scum state’ or used any such terms to describe Israel,” she added.

Finnish media watchdog site, Tundra Tabloids, which exposed the blog on Monday, said that the post’s removal was “not good enough, there needs to be a full apology coming from AI chairman Frank Johansson.”

Notice what’s missing – an apology. He does not actually regret his comments, only that he got caught.

As for being taken out of context, here’s a reminder of what he said:

“A friend of mine who works in Israel, was visiting while piling wood in the shed, we got into his favourite topic. Several years of  residence in the holy country, he has come to the conclusion that “Israel is a scum state”. On the basis of my own visit, which occurred during the 1970s and 1990s for the final time, I agree.”

I wonder how that can possibly be construed in a non-offensive way.

Here’s hoping he gets Garlascoed.

Categorías: Web Log

A Terrorble Performance

IsraellyCool - Vie, 08/27/2010 - 04:04

From Season 6 of Canadian Idol:

I’d tell him not to quit his day job, but it’s his night job I’m more worried about.

He’s the goofy reality show contestant who moonwalked his way across a Montreal stage in a shalwar kameez and pashtun hat, singing off-key the song Complicated by Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne.

He’s the McGill medical school graduate and resident, and pathologist at a small-town hospital near London, an ostensible humanitarian who risked his life to deliver aid to survivors in an earthquake-ravaged region of Pakistan.

But he’s also terror suspect number three in a sensational Canadian national security case that has made headlines around the world.

If ever a fiction writer were to create a character with an apparent double life, one that would confound those who thought they knew him best, they could do no better than Dr. Khurram Sher.

Sher’s unlikely audition for the sixth season of Canadian Idol in 2008 is a good example.

In his shimmering green cloak, he appears on stage and confirms to the judges that he’s from Pakistan. “I came in 2K5,” he tells them with a clear accent, “so it’s been about three years now.”

Except that those who knew him from his time as a pathology resident at McGill say he was born in the Montreal region, has no accent, and, as one colleague put it, “He seemed so westernized.”

Indeed, as Sher begins to sing, his accent seems to disappear, only to come back after his comical performance, as the judges ask him if he ever wanted to be a comedian.

Sher, now 28, told co-workers the Canadian Idol appearance was a gag; he knew he wouldn’t go anywhere with it. Why he chose to use a fake Pakistani accent and wear the traditional clothes is a mystery to them.

“He did it as a joke, he told us,” said one person who knew Sher well.

To those out of the loop, it was baffling. “When i saw khuram (sic) on TV i thought to myself, what the heck is he doing?” wrote one acquaintance on a Montreal Muslim online forum.

The Star spoke to several of Sher’s former colleagues, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sher never wore traditional clothing to work at the residents’ lab in the pathology department, part of the Royal Victoria Hospital at the McGill University Health Centre. He only ever sported jeans and a casual shirt, sometimes his San Jose Sharks jersey, and often listened to his iPod. Neither did he ever betray any religious or ideological motivation, if it ever existed, his co-workers said.

“He didn’t seem like he was (a) practicing” Muslim, said one colleague.

A colleague said she had “goosebumps” when she heard about the charges against Sher. “He was such a nice guy,” she said.

University officials issued a reminder to department staff not to speak to media about the case.

Sher attended Centennial Regional High School, a large English high school in Greenfield Park, the school confirmed Thursday. His coworkers say he has a partner and at least two children.

He attended medical school and completed his residency at McGill before moving to London.

He wasn’t well known where he lived in London, having moved in about a month ago, neighbours said.

Laura DeGroot, who lives three doors down, said the first time she saw Sher was Wednesday morning. He was pacing his lawn with his hands behind his back, she said.

Other neighbours reacted, as expected, with shock and confusion to news of his arrest. Sher was described as “nice” and “pleasant.”

“He was normal,” said one neighbour who asked not to be named.

In 2005, Sher answered a call from the Islamic Foundation of Toronto looking for volunteers to go to the Kashmir region of Pakistan to help earthquake survivors.

He didn’t have an association with the Toronto centre, a spokesperson said Thursday, but was among a group of medical professionals who stepped forward.

On Nov. 3, 2005, Liberal MP Derek Lee commended Sher’s efforts, mentioning him by name and noting that the doctors had hiked into the remote regions to reach the neediest.

“These young Canadian men, along with our community that supports them in the middle of Ramadan, stand as a testament to the best that we as Canadians aspire to be.”

Sher was also active in ball hockey leagues. He was part of “Team Pakistan,” participating in the World Street Hockey Championships in Pittsburgh, according to a 2005 Star article.

Many of the team members, like Sher, were born in Canada, but of Pakistani heritage and unable to qualify for a Canadian team.

“I wanted to see how I compare with the elite in ball hockey,” a then 23-year-old Sher was quoted as saying.

Those who know Sher say they simply can’t believe the allegations. It is hard to fathom that the character on Canadian Idol could be the same man now in custody, they say.

But Mubin Shaikh, a former RCMP informant and one of the Crown’s star witnesses in the case against the so-called Toronto18, cautioned against a quick judgment.

“When we dismiss them off as amateur, or not really capable of pulling something off, I remind people all it takes to fire a gun is a basic motor skill,” he said Thursday.

“We run the risk of becoming not so vigilant — becoming dismissive.”

The 2006 arrest of 18 young Muslim men in Toronto on terrorism charges also began with sensational headlines — and disbelief.

In the end, of the 14 men and four youths who were charged, 11 were eventually convicted. Charges against seven of the accused were dropped.

With files from Stuart Thompson in London, Ont.

The alleged offences

Partial text of the charges against Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurram Syed Sher:

1. That Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurram Syed Sher, between the 1st day of February, 2008 and the 24th day of August, 2010, did conspire with James Lara, Rizgar Alizadeh and Zakaria Mamosta, and person or persons unknown, at or near the City of Ottawa, province of Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, and in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan, to commit an indictable offence, to wit: knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity.

2. That Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh unlawfully did, between the 1st day of September, 2009 and the 24th day of August, 2010, in the City of Ottawa, province of Ontario, commit an indictable offence, to wit: making or having in his possession an explosive substance with intent thereby to endanger life or cause serious damage to property, or to enable another person to do so, in violation of s. 81(1)(d) of the Criminal Code, for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group.

3. That Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh unlawfully did, between the 1st day of September, 2009 and the 24th day of August, 2010, in the City of Ottawa, province of Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, directly or indirectly, collect property, provide or invite a person to provide, or make available property or financial services, knowing that, in whole or in part, they will be used by or will benefit a terrorist group.

Categorías: Web Log
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